Pakistan Unveils Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, Invites Global Miners to Build in the Country
At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Blockchain and Crypto, Bilal Bin Saqib, revealed the government’s plans to establish a state-backed Bitcoin Strategic Reserve and promote Bitcoin mining across the country.
Bin Saqib shared that the idea for Pakistan’s reserve was influenced by the emerging U.S. initiative under President Donald Trump’s administration to create a similar Bitcoin reserve. The American version will initially be funded through the U.S. government’s current Bitcoin holdings—roughly 200,000 BTC—acquired via civil and criminal forfeitures. He also noted that Pakistan is “very carefully” observing U.S. efforts to legislate stablecoins, particularly the GENIUS Act.
“Today is a very historic day. Today, I announce the Pakistani government is setting up its own government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and we want to thank the United States of America again because we were inspired by them,” said Bin Saqib.
He emphasized that, like the U.S. reserve, Pakistan’s holdings are not intended for trading or speculation.
“This wallet, the national bitcoin wallet, is not for speculation or hype. We will be holding these bitcoins and we will never, ever sell them,” he added.
In a significant push to support infrastructure, Bin Saqib announced that Pakistan has designated 2,000 megawatts of electricity specifically for Bitcoin mining and AI data centers. The initiative, announced on May 25 and backed by the Ministry of Finance, is being driven by the Pakistan Crypto Council as part of a national digital transformation strategy. In its initial phase, the government will direct excess energy toward powering crypto mining operations and AI data centers. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed optimism that the decision will not only bring in billions of dollars in foreign capital but also create high-skilled job opportunities across Pakistan.
Bin Saqib extended an invitation to the global mining and blockchain community:
“We want to welcome all miners to come to Pakistan, all the infrastructure players to come to Pakistan and build with us.”
He framed the reserve as a first step in Pakistan’s broader ambition to embrace blockchain and crypto technologies.
“We have over 100 million unbanked people. They lack tools for saving, for investment, and we want to change that. We want them to break their economic classes. And I really believe that crypto and blockchain can help us take that quantum leap,” said Bin Saqib.
“We want to tokenize our illiquid assets. We want to do digital IDs … So Pakistan is looking for allies. Pakistan is looking for access, because Pakistan wants to build.”
